Children's book tells story of Beaumont's Babe

Manuella Libard, Beaumont Enterprise

By Manuella Libardi

Updated 4:38 pm, Friday, April 11, 2014

Babe Zaharias, right, and Claire Doran of Cleveland, Ohio, pose after the Women's Titleholders Championship golf tournament at Augusta National Course in Augusta, Ga. on March 19, 1950. Zaharias, winning the championship, set a new record of 298 for the fourth round. Doran was runner up. (AP Photo/Rudolph Faircloth)
Photo: RUDOLPH FAIRCLOTH, STF

Rich Wallace and Sandra Neil Wallace talk Thursday with Milton Bell during an event to promote the couple's book detailing the life of the historic athlete at the Babe Didrikson Zaharias Museum on Thursday. Bell is the architect of the museum.
Photo taken Thursday, April 10, 2014
Guiseppe Barranco/@spotnewsshooter
Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, Photo Editor

Guests attend an event Thursday set around a new book detailing the life of Mildred 'Babe' Didrikson Zaharias at the athlete's museum on Thursday. The book, BABE CONQUERS THE WORLD: The Legendary Life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias, " was written by Rich Wallace and Sandra Neil Wallace.
Photo taken Thursday, April 10, 2014
Guiseppe Barranco/@spotnewsshooter
Photo: Guiseppe Barranco, Photo Editor

Guests attend an event Thursday set around a new book detailing the...

Babe Zaharias sits under a hair dryer while she gets a manicure from Edna Keener in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 28, 1954. Zaharias is to attend a dinner with U.S. President Eisenhower and several hundred people. The athlete thought she had been invited to a White House dinner. Upon her arrival in Washington, D.C. by plane from Fort Worth, Texas, where she had cancelled a golf date, she learned that the dinner will be held in a hotel and feature a speech by the chief executive. (AP Photo)
Photo: AP1954

Patty Berg, left, and Babe Zaharias, who are leading in the Women's pro division, shake hands at the World Championship Golf Tournament at Tam O'Shanter at Chicago, Ill., Aug. 10, 1950. (AP Photo)
Photo: AP1950

Patty Berg, left, and Babe Zaharias, who are leading in the Women's...

U.S. President Dwight D.Eisenhower gets some expert advice on golf grips from professional golfer Babe Zaharias at the White House in Washington, April 1, 1954. The president is using the "Sword of Hope" of the American Cancer Society, which was presented to him by Zaharias, herself a cancer victim, after he opened the 1954 Cancer Crusade by lighting a huge "Sword of Hope" at New York's Times Square by remote control. (AP Photo)
Photo: AP1954

U.S. President Dwight D.Eisenhower gets some expert advice on golf...

Babe Zaharias blasts out of a sand trap on the 9th hole at Augusts,Ga., March 13,1953 during Women's Titleholders Golf Tourney. (AP Photo/HC)
Photo: HC, STF

Babe Zaharias blasts out of a sand trap on the 9th hole at...

** FILE ** Babe Didrikson Zaharias drives a ball during the $1500 Southern California Open golf tournament at Oakmont golf course in Glendale, Calif., in this Dec. 17, 1936 photo. A year ago, Michelle Wie was in line to make history at the John Deere Classic. She'll try again to become the first woman since Babe Zaharias in 1945 to make the cut at a PGA tournament starting Thursday July 13, 2006. (AP Photo/File)
Photo: AP1936

** FILE ** Babe Didrikson Zaharias drives a ball during the $1500...

Babe Ruth is greeted with a kiss by Babe Zaharias at the start of the Miami Biltmore benefit golf match, Feb. 29, 1948 in Miami. Ruth was the honorary referee for the match between Louis Suggs and Sam Byrd versus Babe Zaharias and Al Besselink of the University of Miami team. (AP Photo/Earl Shugars)
Photo: Earl Shugars, STF

Babe Ruth is greeted with a kiss by Babe Zaharias at the start of...

Ben Hogan, left, Fort Worth, Texas, and Babe Zaharias, Prairie View, Ill., congratulate each other after victories in the World Championship Golf Tourney at Tam O' Shanter Country Club, near Chicago, Ill., Aug. 12, 1951. Hogan finished the final round of 66 for a 72-hole of 273, 15 strokes under par. Zaharias toured the 72 holes in 298 to take the $2,100 first prize in the Women's division. Between them is the trophy Hogan won in addition to $12,500 first prize. (AP Photo)
Photo: AP1951

Ben Hogan, left, Fort Worth, Texas, and Babe Zaharias, Prairie...

Golfers Lt. Patty Berg, left, of the U.S. Marines, and Babe Zaharias arrive on the 18th green together to watch another two-some finish in the opening round of the Women's Western Open Golf Tournament at Chicago Suburban Park Ridge, Ill., June 19, 1944. Zaharias posted a 77 for 18 holes while Berg shot 81. (AP Photo)
Photo: AP1944

Golfers Lt. Patty Berg, left, of the U.S. Marines, and Babe...

Babe Zaharias sinks a putt for a one under par four on first hole of her championship match in the Women's Trans-Mississippi golf tournament on Saturday, July 13, 1946. Her opponent, Polly Riley of Fort Worth, Texas, watches in the background at the Denver Country Club in Denver, Col. (AP Photo)
Photo: AP1946

Babe Zaharias holds the Women's British Amateur Golf Championship trophy at the Gullane Golf Course in East Lothian, Scotland, on June 12, 1947. Zaharias, 32, born in Port Arthur, Texas, is the first American-born golfer to capture the British title since the Ladies tournament was first played in 1893. (AP Photo/Laurence Harris)
Photo: LAURENCE HARRIS, STF

Babe Zaharias holds the Women's British Amateur Golf Championship...

Babe Ruth is greeted with a kiss by Babe Zaharias at the start of the Miami Biltmore benefit golf match, Feb. 29, 1948 in Miami. Ruth was the honorary referee for the match between Louis Suggs and Sam Byrd versus Babe Zaharias and Al Besselink of the University of Miami team. (AP Photo/Earl Shugars)
Photo: Earl Shugars, STF

The Wallaces explore the athletes victories and controversies, including her upbringing, personality, marriage and even her early death.

"There was more to Babe than just sports," the couple said.

The pair's goal is to reach out to younger generations so that Babe's legend can continue to be passed on.

"When you ask most young people who The Babe is, they think of Babe Ruth. And yet, she is the greatest woman athlete who ever lived. So we want to make sure that when kids gets asked who the Babe is they'll say, 'Well, there are two Babes'," Sandra Wallace said.

Zaharias was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1953 and became of the first high profile athlete to openly discuss her illness. Cancer was considered a death sentence back then, said Rich Wallace, but Babe was certain that she was going to fight it and beat it.

At the end of her three-year battle, she roused, smiled and told her husband: "George, I ain't gonna die."

And she won't.

"She will live so long as there is a tongue to speak, an ear to listen and an eye to read. Mildred (Babe) Didrikson Zaharias 'ain't gonna die'," The Enterprise predicted in 1956.